Elizabeth D. Jennings

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Ode to the Little Pocket Mice Onboard the Apollo 17 Command Module

The little pocket mouse (Perognathus longimembris) is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in Baja California and Sonora in Mexico and in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah in the United States.
—Wikipedia

In this study, five pocket mice, with plastic dosimeters implanted beneath the scalp, were flown in a sealed canister. The objective was to determine whether microscopically visible lesions, attributable to particle radiation, could be found in brain, eye, and other tissues in these animals…
—Biomedical Results of Apollo, CHAPTER 4: THE APOLLO 17 POCKET MOUSE EXPERIMENT (BIOCORE)

maybe they had names. have you wondered? maybe a sentimental scientist (a secret about scientists: they can be terribly sentimental) named them ‘whiskers’ or ‘daisy’ or ‘shoelace’, cupped the curled question-marks of them in a latex-gloved palm, placed as prayers in a plastic or metal canister, murmured: benedictions and farewells, see you on the other side. they were sent to the sun-bright god, but he wasn’t a stranger you know. they knew him from before; from before when they hid from him, tucked dark-safe under the earth, offerings arrayed on red sand until he turned away. now they meet him, engine-song, siren-roar, countdown five four three two one, see you on the other side and then, quiet. machinery-hum. small feet unbound from the up/down dichotomy; swim through the small-bore tube; catch seeds in their mouths as they float by. muffled voices [three, male, human] rumble. the ritual repeats: engine-song, siren-roar. then trumpets. victory, the god-oracle sends forth his prophets. but truly i tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. it’s alright little one, the sentimental scientist says. you’ve done well. rest now.

Elizabeth D. Jennings is a math teacher from Northwest Arkansas. She is the kind of person who cries while watching Ice Age and occasionally—but not habitually—rescues worms from the sidewalk after it rains. Elizabeth’s work has also been published in January House Literary Journal; you can find her at elizabethdjennings.com.